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[Page 41]
SONNET [21] XXI. Supposed to be written by Werter.
1 GO! cruel tyrant of the human breast!
2 To other hearts, thy burning arrows bear;
3 Go, where fond Hope, and fair Illusion rest!
4 Ah! Why should love inhabit with despair!
5 Like the poor maniac I linger here,[*]
[*]
LINE 5. Poor Maniac.
See the Story of the Lunatic.
Is this the destiny of man? Is he only happy before he possesses his reason, or after he has lost it? — Full of hope you go to gather flowers in Winter, and are grieved not to find any — and do not know why they cannot be found. Sorrows of Werter. Volume Second.
6 Still haunt the scene, where all my treasure lies;
7 Still seek for flow'rs, where only thorns appear,
8 'And drink delicious poison from her eyes!' [*]
[*]
LINE 8. And drink delicious poison from thine eye. Pope.
9 Tow'rds the deep gulph that opens on my sight
10 I hurry forward, Passion's helpless slave!
11 And scorning Reason's mild and sober light,
12 Pursue the path that leads me to the grave!
13 So round the flame the giddy insect flies,
14 And courts the fatal fire, by which it dies!
About this text
Author: Charlotte Smith (née Turner)
Themes:
Genres:
sonnet
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Source edition
Smith, Charlotte Turner, 1749-1806. Elegiac sonnets, and other poems. By Charlotte Smith. The first Worcester edition, from the sixth London edition, with additions. Printed at Worcester [Mass.]: by Isaiah Thomas, sold by him in Worcester, and by said Thomas and Andrews in Boston, 1795, p. 41. xix,[2],22-126,[2]p.,[5] leaves of plates: ill.; 15 cm. (12mo) (OTA N22357)
Editorial principles
The text has been typographically modernized, but without any silent modernization of spelling, capitalization, or punctuation. The source of the text is given and all editorial interventions have been recorded in textual notes. Based on the electronic text originally produced by the TCP project, this ECPA text has been edited to conform to the recommendations found in Level 5 of the Best Practices for TEI in Libraries version 4.0.0.
Other works by Charlotte Smith (née Turner)
- Elegy. ()
- [THE EMIGRANTS.] ()
- Ode to Despair. From the Novel of Emmeline. ()
- Origin of Flattery. ()
- Peasant of the Alps. From the Novel of Celestina. ()
- Song. ()
- Song. From the French of Cardinal Bernis. ()
- SONNET [01] I. ()
- SONNET [02] II. Written at the Close of Spring. ()
- SONNET [03] III. To a Nightingale. ()
- SONNET [04] IV. To the Moon. ()
- SONNET [05] V. To the South Downs. ()
- SONNET [06] VI. To Hope. ()
- SONNET [07] VII. On the Departure of the Nightingale. ()
- SONNET [08] VIII. To Spring. ()
- SONNET [09] IX. ()
- SONNET [10] X. To Mrs. G***. ()
- SONNET [11] XI. To Sleep. ()
- SONNET [12] XII. Written on the Sea Shore. — October, 1784. ()
- SONNET [13] XIII. From Petrarch. ()
- SONNET [14] XIV. From Petrarch. ()
- SONNET [15] XV. From Petrarch. ()
- SONNET [16] XVI. From Petrarch. ()
- SONNET [17] XVII. From the thirteenth Cantata of Metastasio. ()
- SONNET [18] XVIII. To the Earl of Egremont. ()
- SONNET [19] XIX. To Mr. Hayley. On receiving some elegant Lines from him. ()
- SONNET [20] XX. To the Cotentess of A****. Written on the Anniversary of her Marriage. ()
- SONNET [22] XXII. By the same. To Solitude. ()
- SONNET [23] XXIII. By the same. To the North Star. ()
- SONNET [24] XXIV. By the same. ()
- SONNET [25] XXV. By the same. Just before his Death. ()
- SONNET [26] XXVI. To the River Arun. ()
- SONNET [27] XXVII. ()
- SONNET [28] XXVIII. To Friendship. ()
- SONNET [29] XXIX. To Miss C****. On being desired to attempt writing a Comedy. ()
- SONNET [30] XXX. To the River Arun. ()
- SONNET [31] XXXI. Written on Farm Wood, South Downs, May, 1784. ()
- SONNET [32] XXXII. To Melancholy. Written on the Banks of the Arun, October, 1785. ()
- SONNET [33] XXXIII. To the Naiad of the Arun. ()
- SONNET [34] XXXIV. To a Friend. ()
- SONNET [35] XXXV. To Fortitude. ()
- SONNET [36] XXXVI. ()
- SONNET [37] XXXVII. Sent to the Hon. Mrs. O'Niell, with painted Flowers. ()
- SONNET [38] XXXVIII. From the Novel of Emmeline. ()
- SONNET [39] XXXIX. To Night. From the same. ()
- SONNET [40] XL. From the same. ()
- SONNET [41] XLI. To Tranquillity. ()
- SONNET [42] XLII. Composed during a Walk on the Downs, Nov. 1787. ()
- SONNET [43] XLIII. ()
- SONNET [44] XLIV. Written in the Church Yard at Middleton in Sussex. ()
- SONNET [45] XLV. On leaving a part of Sussex. ()
- SONNET [46] XLVI. Written at Penshurst, in Autumn, 1788. ()
- SONNET [47] XLVII. To Fancy. ()
- SONNET [48] XLVIII. To Mrs. ****. ()
- SONNET [49] XLIX. Supposed to have been written in a Church Yard, over the Grave of a Young Woman of nineteen. From the Novel of Celestina. ()
- SONNET [50] L. From the Novel of Celestina. ()
- SONNET [51] LI. Supposed to have been written in the Hebrides. From the Novel of Celestina. ()
- SONNET [52] LII. The Pilgrim. From the Novel of Celestina. ()
- SONNET [53] LIII. The Laplander. From the Novel of Celestina. ()
- SONNET [54] LIV. The sleeping Woodman. Written in April, 1790. ()
- SONNET [55] LV. The Return of the Nightingale. Written in May, 1791. ()
- SONNET [56] LVI. The Captive escaped in the Wilds of America. Addressed to the Honourable Mrs. O'Neill. ()
- SONNET [57] LVII. To Dependence. ()
- SONNET [58] LVIII. The Glow Worm. ()
- SONNET [59] LIX. Written during a Thunder Storm, September, 1791; in which the Moon was perfectly clear, while the Tempest gathered in various directions near the Earth. ()
- Thirty Eight. Addressed to Mrs. H—y. ()
- Verses. Intended to have been prefixed to the Novel of Emmeline, but these suppressed. ()